"Alright, Swift Gale, if that is your real name--"
"It is." Izzy spoke up from behind Zipp as she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose before continuing.
"We've got some questions for you, and you better answer honestly! Capiche?" She said in a more threatening tone as he blinked confusedly and smiled.
"Yeah, alright. I got nothing to lie about, so lay it on me, Princess!" He said as he leaned back with one leg crossed over the other sitting in one of their kitchen chairs.
"I'll go make some tea!" Izzy said nonchalantly as she skipped along and down the stairs.
"First off--"
"Who are you and why are you here in Maretime Bay? And why are you always causing so many commotions with the road laws!?" Hitch interrupted abruptly as he got into Swift's face suddenly.
Swift blinked a bit but smiled as he slowly pushed Hitch back with a finger to his muzzle, "First off, Sheriff, you know my name. Second, I took up residence nearby maybe five or six years or so ago? Not sure, been a while. Third, I don't cause commotions, I solve the ones you and your friends can't get to when you're busy off elsewhere. I speed around town helping ponies with their 'not so important' problems. Y'know, simple stuff like cats up trees, overgrown gardens, keeping Sprout from being an idiot. Y'know, usual stuff." He explained calmly. Though he took a bit more of a sour tone upon mentioning the 'not so important problems' and especially speaking on Sprout. Though that didn't seem to surprise any of those in the room.
"What do you mean 'not so important problems'? Every problem is important if our friends are having them!" Sunny said in surprise at Hitch's lighter outburst and the wording Swift used.
"I definitely think so. But you all seem to worry about the more extra big dilemmas. Like how you'll celebrate your holidays, how you'll plan a singing festival in Bridlewood. Or, my personal favorite, opening up a community garden." He said a bit more pointedly as he leaned forward and leaned on his hand against his knee. "I've seen the good in your actions, don't get me wrong. But I've also seen the problems you're not around to solve or don't recognize. For example, did you know Dahlia's knee got sprained bad after your animals tripped her up on her skates? Bed ridden and unable to go shopping for herself, I did it. Spent a week and a half keeping her place tidy. Oh, or how about when Sugar Moonlight had to work through her panic attack when she nearly got flattened by a giant tomato that was suddenly summoned from nowhere? I stayed by her side and have been helping her work through it by using techniques I've been reading about in self-help books. From all three cities! For the last month!" He said with a lightly aggravated chuckle before giving a sigh, "... And I had to do all that while searching for my only friend I ever had..." He said leaning back with a sad smile looking over to Misty who stared wide-eyed back.
"You-- wait... You've been searching for Misty?" Zipp said confusedly before groaning, "Y'know what? We'll get to that. My questions now. Where are you from originally if you only showed up here five or six years back? Where are your parents? How do you know Misty and why do all of us somehow remember seeing you?" She listed off impatiently as he shrugged.
"You want the whole story? Fine. It was maybe back when I was a colt," he started as he looked to the ground.
'I was born in Zephyr Heights, my mom was a Pegasus. Sweetest mare you'd ever know... But my dad was an Earth Pony that just so happened to sneak his way into the city even with it's anti-Earth-Pony Pony/Unicorn way of thinking. They fell for each other, he stayed with her and they had me a little while after. From how my mom put it, some guards found out about him and took him into custody, deaf to my Mom's pleading cries... Or mine.
I don't know what happened to my dad and my Mom didn't exactly take it well. She was heartbroken and I wanted to find a way to help her and maybe even get some answers about my dad. So, while she was off shopping, I went to go find answers and ran into you two, the princesses. You seemed like a semi-reliable source, so I decided I'd tail you back to the castle or maybe just ask for your help... Unfortunately, I was never great at controlling how fast I go and ended up nearly trampling you and getting chased off by the guards as well as your sister, Zipp. I wanted to ask you if you knew anything, but as a kid being chased after tackling royalty, I was scared I'd end up like my dad and leaving my Mom all alone. So, I escaped by...'
"Leaping from the mountain... That's why I remember you! I thought you--"
"Bit the dust? Nah... Well, almost. Being unable to fly and all it kinda made the landing rougher than I'd have liked. Though it's crazy what adrenaline can do in the face of possible imprisonment or who the Hells knows what." He admitted as he sighed, "I kept running. Day and night, night and day, planning a way to get back one day when everything calmed down... Before I knew it, I was lost," he said as he continued on in his reminiscent tone.
'I was tired, hurt, and scared outta my mind, but I found my way to Bridlewood and collapsed outside of some house. I guess they took me in cause I woke up to a giggly lavender airhead of a filly smiling down at me with a cup of tea in her hands waiting. I was startled and a bit scared at first, but then I remembered something my dad would always say and I decided to trust her. Glad I did, cause that tea was the best and I was in no shape to move around.'
"Huh, so that's why you know Izzy? She treated you while you were down for the count after running away? How long was that in between?"
Swift looked up at the ceiling as if contemplating things as he groaned, "I was running until the moon rose... So I had to be running for at least a good few hours into the night."
"Oh, oh! I can answer that!" Izzy said excitedly as she skipped up the stairs and hovered a teacup into his outstretched hand and poured him some tea, "He was unconscious for a few days and I got kinda worried he wouldn't wake up but I remember my gram-gram telling me about this tea that woke up anyone from anything any time! Took a while to find all the ingredients, but it was worth it cause when I held it up to him he woke up in seconds! So... Probably like five days to a week if I had to give a good guesstimation!" She said as he nodded his thanks to her and took a sip.
"Alright, so a week after Pipp got tripped and I chased you off, you met Izzy. What then?" Zipp said as she wrote everything down, looking over to him expectantly.
'I spent a few days healing up with Izzy's help. After a while and some great tea, I was able to run again and I told her I had to go. She gave me some snacks and some crystals to ward off any 'Jinxies' or something and I took off. Didn't get too far though, cause then I found... Her. I found this frightened filly crying her eyes out and wandering around on the far outskirts of the woods. You basically get the gist from what Misty told you earlier. I figured that Izzy might know her so I did my best to lead her back towards her house. When I saw this big, brooding looking unicorn outside her house, I told her to wait a little bit and hide and that if she ever needed me to whistle the song I'd shown her. After that, I tried my best to re-trace my steps back home since I basically ran in a straight enough line and finally made it back after... Maybe a few days? I climbed back up and tried to sneak back home, but...'
Swift sighed as he held his cup tight, "... She was gone. Mom had left a note saying she was going to find my dad and I, assuming I was with him. She left me a note saying that if I came back that the fridge was stocked and everything was as I left it... I couldn't go in. I couldn't face it without my Mom being in there." He said as he kept his sad smile, "Cause in running to escape capture, I left my Mom alone anyway... Like an idiot, I did exactly the opposite of what I wanted." He chuckled as he shook his head. "Course, being a tired, hungry colt I had no choice and went in. She was right, food was ready, my room was made up... But she wasn't there."
The group all stared at him as Hitch's once hardened glance turned soft and full of self-disappointment while Sunny moved forward with Misty to sit near him, "I'm so sorry, Swift... If you don't mind, was there anything else you remember?"
"Funny you should ask... Yeah, there is. I found a note from my dad at the bottom of my toy box. Guess he left it as a 'just in case' thing. It told me to 'Find the tower of light by the sea' or something. Had no idea where that was, so I checked an old map I remembered my mom and dad had in their room that they showed me when I was, like, two or so. It led me... Here." He said as Sunny tilted her head confused.
'I went running to find the tower of light and followed the message the best I could. Having never seen a lighthouse, I had no clue where I was going. While I was going by, I heard someone shout in shock and saw this odd little figure fall from this weird-looking tower. I ran over and snatched it before it fell and figured I'd leave it on the front step before I took off towards town for directions.'
"I had no idea I had gone to Hitch's dad but I knew law enforcement when I saw it. He told me that this place was probably what I was looking for. Since it was never lit though, I ignored it and decided I'd keep looking, using my old home as a base of operations I guess. Over the years, I got better and better at traversing the distance and I've been able to get to all three places in a single day. Then in a single hour." He said with a growing grin as he leaned up, "And since magic has returned, I've been able to kick it into overdrive." He said proudly.
"Yeah, I don't buy it." Hitch said as he wiped his eyes and took a breath to compose himself, "You're fast, I'll give you that. But to make it to Zephyr Heights or, especially, Bridlewood in an hour? It took us days and even with the Marestream it takes us a few hours." He said with a blatant tone of disbelief as Swift chuckled, "What's so--"
"Hey Princess Pipp," he said as Pipp looked curiously at him, "Anything from home you'd like picked up?" He said as if issuing a challenge as she smirked and crossed her arms.
"Get me my back-up brush from my room. Third floor, right of my bed and middle drawer. You have five minutes." She said with an amused smile as he stood and cracked his back as he rose up and turned to look back at her.
"I only need three." He said as he took a crouching stance and, in a shockingly familiar surge of wind, he was gone.
With his disappearance, everyone stared in shock at where he once was standing as Izzy was the first to break the silence, "Wow, he really has gotten faster!"
"Izzy, why didn't you say you knew this guy?! That would've made all this so much easier to nail him down!" Zipp said in frustration as Izzy shrugged.
"I know how much you like solving this stuff on your own! And besides, I was going out to go find him anyway since he brings me all this cool stuff from Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights in his free time!" She said as she rose up a box of oddities and baubles.
"So that's where that propellor piece came from. Alright, that tracks. But still, you should'a at least mentioned that he was a friend of yours to Hitch or Sunny! And another thi--" Zipp was cut off as Pipp's phone went off.
Pipp pulled it out and blinked confusedly, "Huh. It's Mom..." She said as she answered and put it to video call, "Hi Mom~! What's going o--"
"Pipp, darling! The strangest event just occurred! I was having the most delightful time in the garden with Alphabittle having tea and listening to his tales. Oh, it was just divine--"
"Mother!" Pipp interrupted as Queen Haven loomed at the screen startled, "What happened that you were calling about?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes! When all of the sudden, a sudden powerful breeze, far stronger than is normal, came through. Next thing I know, the window to your room is wide open! I went to go check in case you'd come home for a surprise visit or you'd forgotten something! But when I went to look--"
"Wait, was my right dresser middle drawer open and my extra brush missing?!"
" Why... Yes, yes it was. So you did come home for something! Well, my conscience is clear then. Thank you for putting your mother's mind at ease, my dear! Kisses~!" She said before hanging up as Pipp stared wide-eyed at her phone, slowly looking back at the others who were also staring back at her save for Izzy who had hopped over and sat next to Misty.
"No way... There's literally no--"
"Delivery, your highness." Swift said as he sat where he had been before, holding out a lavender brush with silver bristles, Pipp's cutie Mark on the back of it on a golden plate engraving. Pipp, awestruck, slowly took the handle as Izzy shot up and dragged Misty with her as she stumbled behind to show her a timer she was holding that read '2:59'. "Just under three minutes..." She said in a light gasp as she looked back at him, "What... Are you?"
Swift chuckled as he shrugged, "Nothing special. Just the fastest runner in all of Equestria."